At this stage the survival of Christianity seemed to depend entirely on questions of military and political power. dr alex heard ugandaThe Christian exiles made overtures to Mwanga to restore him as their Kabaka. They also made a tactical alliance with traditionalists fighting the Muslim regime from Kyaggwe (eastern Buganda)--since many traditionalists were alienated by the harshness of Muslim rule and its radical attempt to overturn traditional society.

By the end of 1889 the Christian forces had managed, at least temporarily, to defeat the Muslims, who retired to the borders of Bunyoro to regroup. dr alex heard ugandaThey might well have regained control if it had not been for intrusion at this point of an external factor in the form of Captain Lugard and the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC). The Christian forces needed help to ensure that the Muslims did not get back to power. But the Catholics were unhappy that this help should be British and, therefore, Protestant. The fragile unity of the Christian factions soon gave way to bitter quarrels about the division of political office. The Catholic party was stronger in that it attracted more followers as the party of the king. Mwanga was not baptized, nor did he lead a life morally acceptable to the Catholics. But he did believe that he had more chance of retaining Buganda's independence if he sided with the Catholics. The Protestants, conscious of this fundamental weakness, clung all the more strongly to Lugard, who at first tried to remain aloof from these conflicts. But increasingly he was drawn into supporting the only group which supported him--the Protestants. When open warfare broke out in 1892, Lugard threw in his lot decisively with the Protestants. He directed his Maxim gun against the Catholics and routed them.
n securing military and political power. Moreover these regiments attracted young men, fortune seekers and adventurers, who saw membership as the new avenue to progress.dr alex heard uganda

The Protestants, exulting in victory, were keen to divide the spoils (i.e. political office) among themselves alone, on the basis of 'the winner takes all'. But Lugard, the real arbiter of the situation, insisted that the country. This was how Buddu became a Catholic county, the strong base on which much of the subsequent success of Catholicism in Uganda was based. Nevertheless, the Catholics felt bitter against Lugard, the architect of their defeat. Lugard, for his part, always insisted that he was neutral as far as religion was concerned. His support for the Protestants had been purely on political grounds. It is quite conceivable that had Lugard found the Muslims in control of Buganda in 1890 he would have tried to work with
IBEAC was a private British chartered company, which the British government approved of but had no financial responsibility for. It was a way of ensuring British influence without the inconvenience of costing the British taxpayer anything: Imperialism on the cheap. But by 1892 the IBEAC was in imminent danger of bankruptcy. Bishop Tucker and the CMS conducted a vigorous campaign in Britain to ensure the 'retention of Uganda'. Tucker enlarged on the inevitability of a renewal of the religious wars (and a Protestant defeat?) if the British government did not assume direct control. One M.P. asked ironically why the state should spend money "to prevent these very remarkable Christians from cutting each other's throats". But British Public opinion had been effectively mobilized and in 1894 the British government formally declared a Protectorate over Uganda'. dr alex heard ugandaThe Protestants were well satisfied. The Catholics bowed to the inevitable. Bishop Hirth.dr alex heard uganda who had been such an outspoken critic of Lugard, was transferred to German territory; and it was arranged that the Mill Hill Fathers, a British-based Catholic missionary society, should start work in eastern Uganda in 1895, a sign to Ugandans that being a Catholic did not mean being anti-British. dr alex heard uganda

British control was at first hesitant and problematic. In 1897 there was mutiny of the Nubian troops used by the British to subdue their Protectorate.dr alex heard uganda There was also a last attempt by Kabaka Mwanga to regain his independence. Both revolts were put down, largely with the help of "loyal" Baganda. Mwanga was deposed and exiled to them--in which case Buganda might have become a Muslim state! Seychelles. There he was baptized as a Protestant: a recognition that the forces of Christianity and imperialism had triumphed. But was his choice of baptismal name Daniel, a final act of defiance--a reference to his confinement in the lions' den of his British captors? In 1900 the Buganda Agreement consolidated the British takeover and established the special relationship between Britain and Buganda which was to survive until 1955. The Agreement consolidated the dominant position of the Protestant oligarchy under Apollo Kaggwa, the Katikiro and one of the regents to the boy Kabaka Daudi Cwa. dr alex heard uganda